Firefighter Aron Buch first became inspired to cook by the “big, Italian-style, five-course meals” at his mother’s family’s functions.

But it was when he joined the FDNY that he really learned how to cook a diversity of meals. “In the firehouse, the meal is probably one of, if not the biggest, part of every tour, and I decided I liked being in the kitchen and making guys happy,” says Buch, 31.

Saturday night, his cooking will be nurturing even more people – he’s one of three firemen whose recipes were chosen to feed the 18,000 runners in Sunday’s New York City Marathon at Tavern on the Green the night before.

It’s the 12th annual such pasta party sponsored by the Ronzoni pasta company, and the second time New York’s Bravest have been spotlighted as guest chefs.

This year’s recipe-contest winners represent three boroughs. Buch is a recent transfer from Queens to Ladder Co. 2 in Midtown. Keith R. Young belongs to Brooklyn Ladder 156 and Joseph DePinto is from Queens Ladder 155.

“The recipes we received are terrific examples of what firehouse cooks actually serve in the firehouse,” says Joseph Bonanno Jr., a 20-year FDNY vet serving as Ronzoni’s spokesman.

He should know. Bonanno is the author of “The Healthy Firehouse Cookbook” and “The Firehouse Grilling Cookbook.” He’s also the guy who first got Buch excited about firehouse cooking after they were introduced by relatives.

“Sitting down to a great meal is what bonds firefighters together and makes them a cohesive unit,” Bonanno says.

The way a firehouse meal typically unfolds is that the crew gets together to decide what’s for lunch or dinner, goes out shopping for ingredients for that meal, and works together to set up and clean up.

“In a house that has two companies – what we call a double house – one month, one company does the house watch, and the other company has the meals,” explains Buch. “Usually, if your company has the meals, it’s kind of a collective effort; everybody helps prepare and one guy kind of puts the meal together.”

Buch says mealtimes at his firehouse usually mean feeding 12 to 14 people. To make his contest-winning Bravests’ Patriot Pasta for the boys, he’d use “5 pounds of pasta and adjust all the ingredients accordingly.”

The men at firefighter Young’s Brooklyn house eat well when he’s manning the stove. Young trained at culinary school and was preparing to become a chef before being lured by the siren’s call.